The nature of our endeavour? Sally Fincher itp Disciplinary Commons Third Meeting: 9th December 2005

2 The story so far …

3 Explored “institutional” context Me, my background, my colleagues Sort of University/Department I teach in Sort of students I teach Sort of expectations (“standards”) Sort (and size) of class Sort of space

4 Started to explore “disciplinary” context What language I teach? (Why?) Which textbook I use? (Why?) Who gets to choose? What can I change? Why would I change it? What influences my decisions here?

5 Documenting our discoveries Portfolio construction The problem of artefacts

Research artefacts: Angwandte Chemie

7 Angwandte Chemie [a typical paper] … is about three pages long. Almost one page contains experimental detail. Half a page is endnotes. The body of the article is then about one and a half printed pages, of which roughly a third consists of graphics

8 Angwandte Chemie: research results “The authors speak, as chemists today do, of molecules that they do not see, but for which they have excellent indirect evidence … I have written of this incredible process, and the way that the chemists’ necessity to move simultaneously in macroscopic and microscopic worlds forces chemists to use a mixture of symbolic and iconic representation of compounds/molecules” Roald Hoffman (2002) Writing (and Drawing) Chemistry in Jonathan Monroe (ed) Writing and Revising the Disciplines, Cornell University

Angwandte Chemie: research artefact A particular feature of Angwandte Chemie is the mandatory inclusion at the end of any experimental paper is an “Experimental Section”, detailing procedures for the experiments carried out

10 “Experimental Section” “This is a general statement that, in effect, states that anyone, anytime, anywhere who treats the same ingredients in the same way as I did, will make the same chemical compound” - and yet, it is based on a single empirical study at one specific time and in one specific place

11 Not researchers … we’re commoners … Not abstraction Not generalisation Specific, particular

12 Situation: a familiar power “To cook rice correctly requires not only patience and skill but an abstract conception of an idealized form. So what I turned to for help was the basic artisanal sense of task. Make it simple by making it particular: what can I do with this rice, this rice pot, this need, this temperament?” “The problem, I gradually realized, was that I wanted to simply follow a set of instructions, whereas what was required of me was to establish a close working relationship with a particular cooking vessel—my personal rice pot.” (Thorne & Thorne, 2000)

13 Our artefacts Don’t think recipes: think ricepots

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